“Sudden Death Following Heart Attack Amongst The Indian Population”.

June 23, 2012 - PRLog -- Dr. B Hygriv Rao - Senior Cardiologist and Electro Physiologist, KIMS Hospital
Secunderabad, was invited to speak on, and present his research on “Sudden Death Following Heart
Attack Amongst The Indian Population”. This conference was attended by about 5000 cardiologists
and heart rhythm specialists from 95 countries. Dr. Hygriv Rao's research paper was the only one from
India that was selected for oral presentation at the Conference The talk summarized the first data from
India in this area and has been published this month in an international cardiology journal.
The research conducted by Dr. Hygriv Rao and his team for the last 5 years revealed that in India,
compared to western countries, heart attack and sudden cardiac death occur at a relatively younger
age, i.e. 50-60 years. Overall the occurrence of sudden cardiac death after heart attack is more common
in our population and the incidence in the first month of heart attack is high (about 5%). This is
because patients suffering from heart attack in our country not only reach hospitals late, but less often
receive timely clot dissolving therapies, less often have procedures to remove blockages in blood
vessels supplying the heart, and do not take medications regularly. The study also found that women
with heart attack are more prone to sudden death as compared with men. Smoking and other
undiscovered risk factors like diabetes, and hypertension contribute to increased prevalence of heart
attack in the younger individuals.
Patients suffering a heart attack need to reach hospital as early as possible, as administering clot
dissolving medications early helps in restricting damage to heart muscle. After discharge from
hospital, following a heart attack, patients need to regularly take standard medications like Beta
Blockers, Aspirin, Statins, ACE inhibitors, etc and have periodic check up. When advised by a
Cardiologist, they need to undergo procedures like bypass surgery and angioplasty to remove blocks in
coronary arteries. The research showed that all these are cost effective measures to reduce the risk of
sudden death in our population.
Dr. Hygriv Rao.
Consultant Cardiologist & Electro Physiologist
Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences
Mobile : 9848052320